The BJP won five of the six seats in 2014. The Congress secured Chhindwara, but is hoping to build on its 2018 assembly election performance .

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electionsUpdated: Apr 29, 2019 05:13 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, Bhopal

Polling in the state will begin in the fourth phase on April 29, and continue till the seventh phase on May 19.

Six of Madhya Pradesh’s 29 Lok Sabha seats will go to the polls in the fourth phase of the ongoing national elections on Monday. Polling in the state will begin in the fourth phase on April 29, and continue till the seventh phase on May 19.

Nakul Nath has replaced father Kamal Nath as the Congress’s candidate from Chhindwara. Kamal Nath became chief minister of the state last year necessitating a bypoll in the seat. Nakul is up against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Natan Shah. Chhindwara has been a Congress bastion, with Kamal Nath representing it nine times.

In Sidhi, late former chief minister Arjun Singh’s son and Congress candidate, Ajay Singh, is in the fray. The BJP has fielded Riti Pathak. Singh lost from the Churhat assembly constituency, his traditional seat, in the assembly elections last year when the Congress unseated 15 years of BJP rule.

The BJP won five of the six seats in 2014. The Congress secured Chhindwara, but is hoping to build on its 2018 assembly election performance .

The BJP’s campaign has centered on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and nationalism. Congress has focused on development and jobs. In Shahdol and Mandla, tribal rights and the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, which concerns the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and other resources, have dominated the campaign.

“It is going to be a tough fight for all the seats save Chhindwara where Congress is expected to win,” said political analyst LS Hardeniya.